The document provides background information on the Alabama Accountability Act (AAA) which was passed in 2013 and amended in April 2022. It allows flexibility contracts between the state and local school districts, and creates tax credits for families and donors to private schools. Opponents argue it takes funding from struggling public schools. Supporters see it as providing alternatives for families in "failing" schools and competition for public schools. Key concerns are how "failing" schools are defined, using public funds for private schools, and limiting choice for transfer students.

2. Background of the AAA
0Passed into law on February 28, 2013. Amended
recently on April 30th.
0Proposed and supported by Alabama
House/Senate Republicans and the Alabama
Association of School Boards.
0Heavily opposed by Alabama Education
Association (AEA), a statewide organization that
represents public school teachers within the
state, and Alabama House/Senate Democrats.

3. The Basics
0 Allows for “flexibility contracts” between the State
Board of Education and local school districts.
0 Creates tax credits for families with children in
“failing” schools to attend a private school or non-
failing public school.
0 Creates tax credits for individuals and businesses who
donate to scholarship fund for students to attend
private school.

4. Flexibility Contracts
0 Local school systems given the opportunity to create their own
“flexibility plan” for both programs and budgets.
0 Plan allows systems to opt out of particular
laws, policies, regulations, etc. so long as they do not infringe on
specific federal and state laws regarding health and
safety, transparency, and ethics. Cannot be used to form charter
schools.
0 All this can be done in exchange for specific incentives, namely
budget increases and freedom over programming. This takes
away crucial funding and resources from “failing” public
schools.

5. Tax Credits for Families
0 Tax credit is equal to 80% of average annual state cost of attendance
for a public K-12 student.
0 Objective to offset cost of private education tuition and provide
alternatives for families “stuck” in a “failing” school.
0 Private and non-failing public schools do not have to accept
students. Madison County has specifically spoken out about
this, saying that they will not accept transfers.
0 Effectively, this is an attempt to create false competition between the
public and private schools. It takes away crucial funding and
resources and only holds benefits for private schools and public
schools in high-income areas—Mountain Brook, Spain
Park, Hoover, etc.

6. Tax Credits for Businesses
0 Non-profit scholarship organizations will be set up by and
approved the Department of Revenue.
0 Businesses who will receive a tax credit equal to 50% of their
donation and 50% of their tax liability.
0 Individuals who donate will receive tax credits equal to 100% of
their donation and 50% of their tax liability.
0 Organization must adhere to these 3 specific parameters:
0 Must expend at least 95% of funds on scholarships.
0 At least 75% of funds must be used for scholarships for students coming
from “failing” schools.
0 Must allocate large portion of funds for low-income eligible students.

7. Governor Robert Bentley on the AAA
“The bill would not have passed had all the school
systems, AEA, and everyone known about it,” the governor
said. “There were about three of four senators who
probably would not have voted for it and I don’t think it
would have passed.”
This speaks for itself.

8. Main Areas of Concern
0 What defines a “failing” school? Failing schools are almost always high-
poverty schools.
0 Crucial funding for public schools being given to private schools. This opens
up the opportunity to de-fund public education via private entities.
0 Misappropriation of public tax dollars. Establishment Clause of the First
Amendment of the Constitution states that state tax dollars may not be used
to fund religious organizations.
0 The only “choice” guaranteed a continuation of a private school’s right to
pick and choose who they allow admission—this time with state funding.
Extremely illegal—see the Supreme Court’s rulings on Sloan vs Lemon and
Committee for Public Education & Religious Freedom vs Nyquist for more
information.

9. How Does This Apply to SFER?
0 The AAA only contributes to and widens the
achievement gap that we are seeking to close by
taking away crucial funding and resources from public
schools.